Germany · Mosel

Weingut Leo Fuchs

A family-owned Pommern estate, working steep south-facing Mosel vineyards and dry Riesling led by Vom Grauen Schiefer.

The producer

Weingut Leo Fuchs has been in the Fuchs family since 1624 and has been led by Ulrich Fuchs since he succeeded his father Bruno in 2015. From Pommern, the estate farms roughly 10 hectares between Pommern and Klotten on the Mosel’s longest south-facing slope. Its white-variety vineyards include Pommerner Zeisel, Goldberg, Sonnenuhr, Rosenberg and Klottener Burg Coraidelstein, with terraces established across steep sections of the hillside.

Riesling is the clearest thread in the documented range. Vom Grauen Schiefer Trocken has appeared under the estate name since at least 2001; the 2023 is 100% Riesling. It combines exotic and yellow fruit with mineral spice and a slate-like savoury edge, while brisk acidity drives a powerful, racy dry finish. The estate works with young and old vines, maintains soil and vines continuously, and does not fine its wines.

Known for

Dry Mosel Riesling from steep south-facing vineyards, especially Vom Grauen Schiefer Trocken.

Notable facts

The story

A Father-To-Son Handover In Pommern

In 2015, Ulrich Fuchs took over the winery in Pommern from his father, Bruno Fuchs. The handover placed him at the helm of a family estate owned by the Fuchs family since 1624. Its vineyards lie between Pommern and Klotten, on the Mosel’s longest south-facing slope, where the estate works named sites including Zeisel, Goldberg, Sonnenuhr, Rosenberg and Burg Coraidelstein. The winery grows only white grape varieties, and Riesling sits at the centre of its documented dry wines. Ulrich took responsibility for an estate whose Vom Grauen Schiefer Riesling name had already appeared in the range by the 2001 vintage.

From the atlas

Weingut Leo Fuchs

At A Glance

Weingut Leo Fuchs is a family-owned Mosel estate in Pommern, farming roughly 10 hectares between Pommern and Klotten. White varieties fill the vineyards, and dry Riesling provides the clearest thread through the documented wines, especially Vom Grauen Schiefer Trocken.

The Producer

The Fuchs family has owned the estate since 1624. Ulrich Fuchs took over from his father Bruno in 2015, continuing the work from Pommern on the Mosel. The estate grows only white grape varieties, so Riesling is not one choice among reds and whites here: it is the grape most clearly connected to the dry wines now documented under the Leo Fuchs name.

Place

Pommern and neighbouring Klotten sit in the Terrassenmosel, a stretch of the Mosel known for steep, terraced vineyards. Leo Fuchs farms on the river’s longest south-facing slope, a position that gives Riesling access to long exposure while it ripens. The result is a natural setting for dry wines that can carry fruit without losing the brisk line expected from Mosel Riesling.

Soil And Site

The estate names Pommerner Zeisel, Goldberg, Sonnenuhr and Rosenberg, along with Klottener Burg Coraidelstein, among its vineyard sites. In the steepest places, it has established terraces that run across the slope. That physical work makes the hillside cultivable and keeps individual vineyard names attached to the estate’s white-wine territory rather than reducing the range to a generic Mosel label.

Vom Grauen Schiefer brings slate directly into the conversation around the dry Riesling range. Available descriptions of the wine point to a mineral-spicy, slate-like character, so the site context is felt in the glass as well as read on the label.

Story

This is a long family estate with a recent change of hands. Ownership has remained with the Fuchs family since 1624, while Ulrich has led the winery since succeeding Bruno in 2015. The continuity matters because the dry Riesling line did not appear overnight: Wein.plus records a Riesling trocken Vom grauen Schiefer from the 2001 vintage, linking today’s bottle to a name that has been in the estate’s range for more than two decades.

Vineyards And Cellar

Young and old vines grow side by side in the Leo Fuchs vineyards. The estate describes continuous soil and vine care, environmentally considerate plant protection, and cultivation the regional association characterises as conscious and sustainable. On steep Mosel ground, those choices keep the work focused on the vines themselves, with the eventual fruit carrying the burden of flavour in a dry Riesling.

In the cellar, the wines are not fined. Together with the estate’s focus on white varieties, that leaves the wine’s central questions straightforward: how Riesling fruit, Mosel slope and the slate-marked dry style meet on the palate. No oak or fermentation recipe needs to dominate the description when the documented bottle character is fruit, mineral spice and a dry finish.

Wines

The documented range is entirely white, with Riesling at its centre. The named vineyards give the estate a set of distinct Mosel addresses, while Vom Grauen Schiefer is the long-running dry Riesling name that connects historical and current releases. A 2001 Riesling trocken under that name is recorded, and the line continues with recent vintages.

For the 2023 Vom Grauen Schiefer Trocken, the essentials are firm: it is 100% Riesling from Mosel and carries 7.7 g/L residual sugar. Its dry designation and yellow-fruit, mineral-spicy profile show a Riesling built around fruit, acidity and slate character rather than sweetness. The vineyard names broaden the estate’s setting; Vom Grauen Schiefer supplies the most clearly documented taste of that setting.

In The Glass

The 2023 Vom Grauen Schiefer Trocken opens on exotic and yellow fruit, then moves into mineral spice and a slate-like note. Its palate is described as powerful and racy, so the fruit does not simply widen the wine; it is pulled along by acidity into a dry, energetic finish. The 7.7 g/L residual sugar belongs inside that dry shape, giving the Riesling body without turning the finish sweet.

The current 2024 release of the same dry Riesling line is described with citrus, white peach, restrained spice and mineral presence. That is not a tasting note for the 2023 bottle, but it shows how the continuing cuvée can shift its fruit detail by vintage while keeping citrus, stone fruit, mineral character and dry structure in view.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Leo Fuchs Vom Grauen Schiefer Trocken 2023. It is a Mosel Riesling made entirely from Riesling grapes, with a dry designation and 7.7 g/L residual sugar. Exotic and yellow fruit lead into mineral spice and a powerful, racy finish, so the bottle gives both immediate fruit and the firm acidity that keeps Mosel Riesling moving.

It also gathers the estate’s most concrete details in one label: a family producer in Pommern, steep south-facing Mosel vineyards, a white-wine focus and a dry Riesling name documented since 2001. Drink it for the contrast between ripe fruit, dry texture and the savoury slate-like edge at the finish.

Anecdote

In 2015, Ulrich Fuchs took over the Pommern winery from his father, Bruno. The handover continued a family ownership record that reaches back to 1624. The winery Ulrich took over farms roughly 10 hectares between Pommern and Klotten, across named vineyards including Zeisel, Goldberg, Sonnenuhr, Rosenberg and Burg Coraidelstein. It is an estate of white varieties, with Riesling central to the documented wines. Ulrich became the next named steward of vineyards on the Mosel’s longest south-facing slope, where cross-slope terraces have been established in steep locations. The succession joins a father and son to a family estate whose bottles still carry the Leo Fuchs name.

Final Word

Leo Fuchs offers a focused Mosel proposition: family ownership, steep south-facing vineyards near Pommern, white varieties and a dry Riesling with enough fruit to invite a first sip and enough acidity and mineral spice to hold the finish. Vom Grauen Schiefer Trocken is where those facts become a bottle.

Sources

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